tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38813962026-04-07T01:53:41.960-05:00A collection of thoughts and asides about life. And if I think of anything that needs to be mocked, it will show up here.hiikeebahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546094181276790786noreply@blogger.comBlogger1121125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881396.post-1157163423847783182014-09-11T08:00:00.000-05:002014-09-11T08:00:05.372-05:00

-From a longer piece entitled "My 2001 Vacation" that was once published on a geocities website Tuesday September 11, 2001 At about 10 am, the flight attendants began picking up our drinks only a few minutes after giving them to us. The flight had been routine until the co-pilot came on and announced that because of something bad happening "back east," our flight would be

hiikeebahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546094181276790786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881396.post-67883634273820946522014-05-30T20:02:00.001-05:002014-05-30T20:02:24.199-05:00

If you think Erik Shinseki actually knew anything about those long wait times in VA hospitals, I have a bridge I want to sell you. Shinseki's job was not to manage each VA hospital's case load, but to deal with the massive bureaucracy the VA is. In this day and age of partisan politics--where the automatic, knee jerk rejection of one side of the other side's proposals is intended to distract us

hiikeebahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546094181276790786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881396.post-82073964502029039062014-05-29T18:57:00.000-05:002014-05-29T18:57:10.118-05:00

I am constantly amazed how the religious right is opposed to the establishment of Sharia in the United States, but have no fucking problem with a Christian Sharia. The idea is, don't force your religion on me, but you can't expect me not to force my religion on you. 'Cuz I love Jesus. And Jesus is right. Female students at Wasatch High School in Utah had their yearbook photos edited to conform

hiikeebahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546094181276790786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881396.post-16029659527119372922014-05-04T19:01:00.000-05:002014-05-04T19:01:45.656-05:00

I don't remember too clearly my graduation. No, I didn't go to a kegger afterwards. I was the first of my generation on my Dad's side to graduate from high school, so I had grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins to keep me on the straight and narrow. But I don't remember the precise ratio between males and females in the honors students. I think there were more girls than guys, but don't quote

hiikeebahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546094181276790786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881396.post-38579572941030326502014-05-01T20:02:00.003-05:002014-05-01T20:02:24.622-05:00

I recently read an interview with Mark Cuban, and he was asked if he had it to do all over again, would he do it. He said he wouldn't because of all the regulations and laws that he would have to comply with today that he didn't have to when he started out. I wish I could find that article! Here's some other news. AirBnB is a site where you can rent a room (or a couch), or a house while

hiikeebahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546094181276790786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881396.post-57463285302056144962014-04-13T08:22:00.001-05:002014-04-13T08:22:28.329-05:00

Our Congresscritters often like to make a show of how much waste there is in the Federal budget when slashing funds for hungry children by $5 billion because it's such a large number. Yet they bend over backwards to explain that the $50 billion spent in foreign aid is a pittance. While they tell us to tighten our belts and pay more in taxes because the rich can't afford to and still create

hiikeebahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546094181276790786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881396.post-53885637376353595242014-04-04T13:40:00.000-05:002014-04-04T13:40:17.855-05:00

This past Wednesday, Army Specialist Ivan Lopez went on a shooting spree at Fort Hood. Suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and depression, he brought his legally obtained fire arm on base after an argument and killed three people wounding 16. Typically, the Left is talking about more gun laws and the Right is saying that everyone needs to carry guns. It is illegal to smuggle a gun

hiikeebahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546094181276790786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881396.post-81969848974708971332014-04-03T19:14:00.001-05:002014-04-03T19:14:48.127-05:00

Senator Ted Cruz recently spoke of the Threat to Religious Liberty™. Cruz said, ”As believers, we are called to action; not just sitting quietly and hiding our faith under a bushel but to stand and speak no matter what the consequence.  Religious liberty has never been more under attack.” Exactly which liberties are being lost, I wonder? How many churches have been closed? How many Bible

hiikeebahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546094181276790786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881396.post-78234213906503966812013-06-02T19:29:00.000-05:002013-06-06T15:25:50.886-05:00

I went to see Star Trek Into Darkness last weekend, and I enjoyed the movie, but I have some questions for the writers. If you haven't seen the movie, please do. It's good. And if you don't, they may not make any more Star Trek movies.  Remember, even a crappy Star Trek movie is better than no Star Trek movie. I'm not going to spoil the whole movie for you. Just the first fifteen

hiikeebahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546094181276790786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881396.post-52623121048627526982013-05-09T22:03:00.001-05:002013-05-09T22:03:11.767-05:00

Here, Nancy Grace, the most offended woman in the world, interviews Asleigh Banfeild via sattelite from ten feet away.

hiikeebahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546094181276790786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881396.post-429718665957567132013-04-17T15:32:00.001-05:002013-04-17T15:32:16.464-05:00

A few weeks ago, a Colorado parolee killed warden, Tom Clements. The parolee was killed in a shoot out in Texas. About the same time two DAs in Kaufmann County Texas were murdered.  The media, ever quick to speculate, said the murders were part of a larger plot to kill law enforcement officials, in a Bond-esque kind of scheme. Nope. Simple revenge. Police arrest former justice of the peace

hiikeebahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546094181276790786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881396.post-50734639587050044072013-04-14T19:21:00.001-05:002013-04-14T19:21:22.235-05:00

Wow. On TV the ships are so durable.  In the movies they are so fragile. I'm sooooooooo glad JJ Abrams is FINALLY making a movie where the Enterprise crashes on a planet.  It's never been done before! At least not with lens flare. I miss real Star Trek. . . Yes, I'm going to see this movie.

hiikeebahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546094181276790786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881396.post-36195727832650099672013-04-10T10:46:00.001-05:002013-04-10T10:46:28.533-05:00

Yesterday, some kid who'd dreamed of stabbing people to death since he was a kid tried to do just that at a college near Houston. I suppose this is a anti-gun advocates dream, people injured and hurt by a crazy person with an Xacto knife instead of a gun with a high capacity magazine. When I was in Japan, where there is strict gun control, every night there was a news story about someone

hiikeebahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546094181276790786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881396.post-4980925718290863982013-04-09T09:12:00.001-05:002013-04-09T09:12:16.370-05:00

According to an ABC story, Michael Meeks and Thomas Piatek, who were acquitted of trying to overthrow the US government are filing suit against the FBI and a state police trooper for violating their Constitutional rights. The same constitution they were attempting to overthrow.

hiikeebahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546094181276790786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881396.post-36705975688353197052013-04-08T11:15:00.000-05:002013-04-08T11:15:09.551-05:00

Here's the answer: Big Corporations. In Arkansas, an Exxon pipeline ruptured spilling thousands of gallons of oil into a residential neighborhood and forcing evacuations for 22 homes. The state is trying to keep the spill out of a nearby lake and is monitoring the air quality in the area. Angered by journalists who are reporting on the spill frying overhead in helicopters with photojournalists

hiikeebahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546094181276790786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881396.post-37521042328041129982013-04-03T15:30:00.000-05:002013-04-03T15:30:21.670-05:00

A couple of Tealiban State Representatives of North Carolina have introduced a bill that would give the state the ability to declare an official religion. That's right! North Carolina wants an official religion just like Iran and the people who took down the Twin Towers! Part of the nullification wave, this law reads, "The North Carolina General Assembly does not recognize federal court

hiikeebahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546094181276790786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881396.post-39511748754134516142013-03-22T19:43:00.001-05:002013-03-22T19:43:24.196-05:00

After the end of the Civil War, the agrarian South was severely punished by the government of the newly restored United States. Called the Gilded Age by Mark Twain, the industrial northeast consolidated their power and the age of the Robber Barons was born. Andrew Carnegie consolidated a dozen different steel companies into Carnegie Steel, which he sold to someone who had other steel companies

hiikeebahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546094181276790786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881396.post-61055031386021607822013-02-21T11:45:00.001-06:002013-02-21T14:11:54.027-06:00

With all the Sturm und Drang over the budget crisis, the fiscal cliff and now sequestration, there's on indisputable fact: the payroll tax increase is having an affect on Wal-Mart. Sales were soft at the retail behemoth in late January. This could cause ripples all along their supply chain, with lost sales and possible layoffs. This finally proves that trickle-down economics don't work as

hiikeebahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546094181276790786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881396.post-23974629725346022482013-02-20T11:24:00.002-06:002013-02-20T11:24:15.780-06:00

I am old.   So when I tell you that the whole "violence in the media inspires violence on the street" argument has been done to death. Back in the 1970s there were a lot of cop shows on TV: Baretta, Starsky and Hutch, and Cade's County (which I remember because Glenn Ford drove a Jeep, which I thought was really cool at the time). In the mid 70s, there was a a great hue and cry

hiikeebahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546094181276790786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881396.post-65985573377553296482013-02-08T14:09:00.000-06:002013-02-08T14:09:38.971-06:00

I will soon be doing my taxes. I won't get much back (Thanks, Republican Party for not extending tax breaks for me!), but still . . . I used to file my taxes over the phone.  Remember that? It was replaced with E-Filing. The IRS, in its infinite wisdom, decided not to host the filing servers themselves.  I guess they didn't want to be responsible for any mistakes. So they allowed

hiikeebahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546094181276790786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881396.post-45299347549928512092013-02-06T10:22:00.002-06:002013-02-06T10:22:23.167-06:00

A Denver 2nd-grader was suspended for throwing an imaginary grenade while playing "Rescue the World" on the playground. A Phildelphia 5th-grader was scolded for having a paper gun in her pocket. Her grandfather made it for her the day before and she forgot it was in her pocket. Naturally someone ratted her out when she threw it away. These teachers would have had a field day at my high school

hiikeebahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546094181276790786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881396.post-3091199912187633212013-02-04T20:58:00.001-06:002013-02-04T20:58:24.622-06:00

Since Sandy Hook, I've been thinking about gun control and gun violence. After Adam Lanza took his mother's guns (I'm still unsure if the weapons were legal. Please post in the comments if you know.)(which is a crime), shot her (which is a crime), stole her car (which is a crime), drove into a gun free zone (which is a crime), broke into the school (which is a crime), shot 20 people (which is a

hiikeebahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546094181276790786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881396.post-480070277682408602013-01-28T11:32:00.000-06:002013-01-28T11:32:29.295-06:00

Twenty-seven years ago today, I was doing college homework when someone called and said, "Did you hear about the Challenger?" Thinking it was a set up to a joke, I cheerily said, "No, what about the Challenger?" It wasn't a joke. I spent the rest of the day watching TV in a state of shock.

hiikeebahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546094181276790786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881396.post-56452472502298083512013-01-25T09:15:00.003-06:002013-01-25T09:15:53.836-06:00

The Huffington Post has been on the cutting edge of a disturbing trend: Women who have suffocated men with their breasts. After an argument, Donna Lange threw her husband to the floor and smothered him with her breasts. In November, a German woman attempted the same thing, wanting the man to die is the best possible way. And back in 2010, a woman having sex with her boyfriend accidentally

hiikeebahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546094181276790786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881396.post-16327170457598626192013-01-23T09:22:00.001-06:002013-01-23T09:22:47.720-06:00

I wanted a tablet. As much as I liked my iPhone, I wasn't sure I wanted an iPad. I also wasn't too comfortable with an Android device. So I bought a Dell Inspiron 10 tablet, mainly because I have a Dell account with a small balance. So how is it? With one exception, the hardware is great.  The exception? The USB ports won't read a single one of my flash drives.  Not one. I know

hiikeebahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546094181276790786noreply@blogger.com0